I bought my first Corvette yesterday
02-21-2016, 10:23 AM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
I bought my first Corvette yesterday
I am now the owner of a 1979 Corvette. It's an L48 that was recently rebuilt, with a slightly more aggressive cam. The TH350 was also rebuilt at the same time, and there looks to be only a few thousand miles on the fluids.
The car itself is in decent shape overall... I'd rate it about a 7/10, with key points being the new paint and POR-15'd birdcage. The interior is black leather, and has seen better days but I'm happy with it. The engine bay is clean enough to eat out of. There's an 80-82 style spoiler/rear bumper on the car, and I think it looks pretty good. Compliments the older style front end, imo.
A few things I'll be coming here to talk about are fairly minor:
- the odometer broke in July of last year. I haven't looked up what the course of action is to fix that, but it's low priority.
- the side pipes are nice and loud, but they have a truck-ish sound. I've heard side pipes that don't sound that way-- I suspect that maybe the previous owner removed the resonators inside them. Is this a thing? I want to do something with it to make it sound less droney, given it's a 3spd with 3.73 gears... 3000 rpm at 50 mph, yeah.
- on that subject, I'd like to make this car a little more highway friendly; anyone with a 700r4 swap have any comments on an extra gear here? Looks like around two grand gets me what I need for that, correct? I work ~40 miles away and all my colleagues are car guys.
That's really it for now... The car doesn't "need" anything, which was one of my goals when purchasing. I wanted a spring-ready ride, and that's what I got. If anyone has any tips for a newbie, or suggestions for what I should do with it, I'd greatly appreciate hearing. I came from a Chevy background with a 92 Firebird, which I had for 9 years (and three engines, haha).
PICTURES: http://imgur.com/a/t0ufD
The car itself is in decent shape overall... I'd rate it about a 7/10, with key points being the new paint and POR-15'd birdcage. The interior is black leather, and has seen better days but I'm happy with it. The engine bay is clean enough to eat out of. There's an 80-82 style spoiler/rear bumper on the car, and I think it looks pretty good. Compliments the older style front end, imo.
A few things I'll be coming here to talk about are fairly minor:
- the odometer broke in July of last year. I haven't looked up what the course of action is to fix that, but it's low priority.
- the side pipes are nice and loud, but they have a truck-ish sound. I've heard side pipes that don't sound that way-- I suspect that maybe the previous owner removed the resonators inside them. Is this a thing? I want to do something with it to make it sound less droney, given it's a 3spd with 3.73 gears... 3000 rpm at 50 mph, yeah.
- on that subject, I'd like to make this car a little more highway friendly; anyone with a 700r4 swap have any comments on an extra gear here? Looks like around two grand gets me what I need for that, correct? I work ~40 miles away and all my colleagues are car guys.
That's really it for now... The car doesn't "need" anything, which was one of my goals when purchasing. I wanted a spring-ready ride, and that's what I got. If anyone has any tips for a newbie, or suggestions for what I should do with it, I'd greatly appreciate hearing. I came from a Chevy background with a 92 Firebird, which I had for 9 years (and three engines, haha).
PICTURES: http://imgur.com/a/t0ufD
Last edited by AnthonyM; 02-21-2016 at 10:32 AM.
02-21-2016, 10:37 AM
#2
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Oct 2006
Location: hebron IL
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C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
That's sounds like a nice ride. kinda cool that you have been a forum member for ten years and you are just now getting your first vette
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 12:13 PM
#3
Instructor
Thread Starter
02-21-2016, 12:26 PM
#4
Burning Brakes
700r4 is a great upgrade. If you want easy, Bowtie Overdrives has a complete package with everything you need. Your 79 auto should have 3.55 rear unless its been changed. I believe only the manuals came with 3.70 in 79.
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 12:36 PM
#5
Congrats! I just picked up my vette yesterday too! 1971 white 4 speed, very nice driver. Its been 7 years since I had one, it feels so good to have one again! Hope you have fun with yours!
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 01:16 PM
#8
Instructor
Thread Starter
Thank you!
Correct, Ken sold me his 79 and kept his 89. Great guy.
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 02:38 PM
#10
Burning Brakes
79 is the perfect year to mod without worrying about keeping original. Yes I would love to have a numbers matching, highly desirable, limited production, early 70s chrome bumper car. But I enjoy doing upgrades and trying to improve my 79 where I can, that if I had to choose I would pick the 79. 
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 04:08 PM
#11
Racer
congrats, i bought my first also a 79 in dec.
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 04:40 PM
#13
Nam Labrat
Member Since: Sep 2013
Location: New Orleans Loo-z-anna
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Congrats! If you are really planning on driving it this Spring......do only one modification at a time (trust me on that 
)
Maybe sidepipe repair first........
Swapping transmissions might be easier than fixing that speedometer!!
And buy a "garage camera".......one that can get greasy when you take pics for your thread!
)Maybe sidepipe repair first........
Swapping transmissions might be easier than fixing that speedometer!!
And buy a "garage camera".......one that can get greasy when you take pics for your thread!
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 05:29 PM
#14
Instructor
Thread Starter
79 is the perfect year to mod without worrying about keeping original. Yes I would love to have a numbers matching, highly desirable, limited production, early 70s chrome bumper car. But I enjoy doing upgrades and trying to improve my 79 where I can, that if I had to choose I would pick the 79.
I'm really not sure of the specifics, but I do know that the windshield had to be replaced.
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454Luvr (02-21-2016)
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 09:10 PM
#16
Melting Slicks
Sounds neat! A '79 is a great ride. A lot of guys would encourage you to keep the original parts of anything you update or modify that may be of value/interest to a potential future buyer. Enjoy the journey and put out lots of pics!
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 09:23 PM
#17
Racer
Welcome to the fraternity. There will be plenty of stop and cuss days, but the pleasure your going to feel getting that sweetheart on the road will offset the bad days. You don't have to wear yoga pants or learn the lotus position, but do practice patience. The knowledge from the members of CF will get you through anything!
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AnthonyM (02-21-2016)
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
02-21-2016, 11:13 PM
#20
Racer
Congrats on your new acquisition! The much cooler part is how long you've been a corvette enthusiast and how long you held out before actually getting your vette. Good for you and enjoy! 
You'll have to keep us posted on any changes/upgrades you decide to make to your car. Good luck.
You'll have to keep us posted on any changes/upgrades you decide to make to your car. Good luck.
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AnthonyM (02-23-2016)
